Doctors looking into estrogen therapy to prevent dementia in women

New evidence suggests there may be a critical window for hormone replacement therapy use in women to maintain estrogen levels and protect against cognitive decline.

For decades, doctors have been puzzled by why women develop Alzheimer’s disease at nearly twice the rate of men.

There are an estimated 7 million people in the U.S. living with Alzheimer’s, with that number expected to reach nearly 13 million by 2050. A majority of cases, or about 2 out of every 3, are in women.

An emerging body of research is suggesting that estrogen, the predominant female sex hormone, may play a critical role, specifically in the perimenopausal transition to menopause, when the body’s hormone levels naturally begin to decline.

Estrogen is thought to perform a variety of functions in the body, such as improving cardiovascular health and maintaining bone density. Estrogen is very important to the brain and is considered neuroprotective, helping shield brain cells from inflammation, stress and other forms of cellular damage.

Alzheimer’s researchers are focused on the early period of perimenopause, which typically occurs in a woman’s early- to mid-40s, as a target for hormone replacement therapy to maintain estrogen levels and possibly protect some women against developing dementia decades later.